Sprint Nextel sees drop in earnings as subscribers leave

Sprint Nextel Corp. has reported a decline in earnings in the second quarter, a result from the 901,000 wireless subscribers who have left the company. This news did not take long to have a reaction in Wall Street, as shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. fell by 79 cents.

Shares started on Wednesday at $7.76, as of noon they were at $7.71. Before the market had opened on Wednesday, the wireless carrier had reported revenue of $9.06 billion for the second quarter. This is down 10.9 percent from $10.2 billion in 2007.

Sprint has said that their customers for the second quarter are 51.9 million, that’s down 3.9 percent on last year figure of 54 million.

It seems that Sprints CEO Dan Hesse has taken a positive view on this; he said “We are seeing signs of progress from our efforts to improve the customer experience, rebuild the Sprint brand and increase our profitability.”

It is thought by many that Sprint Nextel subscribers will fall even more in the third quarter of 2008.

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